College Football 2023-2024

[Starlord]

[Pariah]

That's just outstanding.

[unclevlad]

A federal judge in WV has blocked the NCAA transfer rule for 2 weeks.  This is the "second transfer requires sitting out for a year" aspect, as the first transfer doesn't have this.  It only applies for those 2 weeks, so basically mostly just basketball.  That said, the NCAA's litigation record is...they lose.  And the judge likely wants to decide the case quickly because the transfer window for the football players closes, IIRC, in early January.

 

If the rule's tossed out, it's likely another nail in the coffin of "amateurism" in college's big sports, and for college football, likely another push to the power schools jumping ship and forming their own organization.

[unclevlad]

a)  https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/39120811/cfp-bill-hancock-responds-sen-rick-scott-fsu-omission

 

b)  Albany vs. South Dakota State tonight.  FCS semi.  Always fun, altho SDSU is -1600 moneyline and -19.5 spread.  Cold and breezy, but no precip.

EDIT:  oops.  42-0 in the 3rd.  

 

Elsewhere, the Washington (state) Supreme Court refused the appeal from the Pac-12 to overturn the lower court ruling to give full control of the Pac-12 to Washington State and Oregon State.  Rules, revenues, contracting authority...EVERYTHING.

 

I think some lawyers at various schools may find themselves out of a job...or perhaps, they were only fighting this pro forma.  This is part of their arguments, tho:

 

Quote

“Under the trial court’s preliminary injunction, not only are ten members immediately deprived of their governance rights – a harm all parties agree is substantial – the remaining two members are free to penalize the other ten, depriving them of resources on which their student-athletes depend.”

 

WAAAHhhhhhhhhhh.  Guess what, you're departing to make money, so don't even THINK about depriving resources to your money-makers.  Granted, it's the typical hypocrisy we hear where anything like this is concerned.  Still disgusting to me.

[Pariah]

Reminds me of something my Mom used to say: "Looking for sympathy? Try the dictionary. It's between s*** and syphilis."

[Pariah]

Colorado School of Mines, the state's premier engineering school, plays for the Division II national championship today. It's their second consecutive championship game appearance, and they're going for the school's first title.

 

Colorado School of Mines digs deep for Division II football title. Can tough academics make a tough team?

 

No transfer portal nonsense, no NIL millionaire wannabes, no skipping games to get ready for the combine. These are real student athletes—college students who happen to play football.

[unclevlad]

Huh.  

 

Well, it is the home of Coastal Carolina.

 

The Myrtle Beach Bowl is being played on aqua turf.  Kinda funny looking but not altogether bad.  No two-tone nonsense.  

[Starlord]

21 minutes ago, Pariah said:

Colorado School of Mines, the state's premier engineering school, plays for the Division II national championship today. It's their second consecutive championship game appearance, and they're going for the school's first title.

 

Colorado School of Mines digs deep for Division II football title. Can tough academics make a tough team?

 

No transfer portal nonsense, no NIL millionaire wannabes, no skipping games to get ready for the combine. These are real student athletes—college students who happen to play football.

 

I first read that as Colorado School of Mimes.

 

They could be tough on defensively, I suppose.  Not much of a home field advantage though if the alumni and student section never make a sound....

 

 

[Pariah]

43 minutes ago, Starlord said:

I first read that as Colorado School of Mimes.

 

They could be tough on defensively, I suppose.  Not much of a home field advantage though if the alumni and student section never make a sound....

 

But once they lock you down with their box defense, it's really hard to get out.

[Pariah]

1 hour ago, unclevlad said:

The Myrtle Beach Bowl is being played on aqua turf.  Kinda funny looking but not altogether bad.  No two-tone nonsense.  

 

Of the several different alternate colored turfs, this one is probably my least favorite. It's just close enough to green that if I'm not paying attention, for a moment it makes me think there's something wrong with my television.

 

Edited December 16, 2023 by Pariah

[unclevlad]

Yeah, right, blame the TV......

[Pariah]

Montana is headed for the FCS championship game after defeating North Dakota State in double overtime. If I'm counting correctly, this represents the Bison's second payoff loss in eleven years. 

[Pariah]

Mines lost their second consecutive Division II championship game in blowout fashion yesterday. They scored on the opening drive, then couldn't find the end zone again. Harding had a punishing ground attack, and the Orediggers simply had no answer for it.

 

I'm sure those guys are disappointed after an undefeated season and being ranked number one for the last couple of months. Still, 14-1 and a second consecutive championship game are nothing to be ashamed of. And they're still the best college football team in Colorado.

[Cancer]

Does Colorado School of Mines still give literal silver diplomas to their graduates?

[unclevlad]

So.....

 

Today we have the only weekday, daytime bowl game before Christmas...there are games T, Th, and Friday, but they're night games.  And it's the legendary Famous Toastery Bowl!!!

 

Yeah, brilliant name, right?  Well, the Bahamas Bowl...by far the lowest-paying bowl game...couldn't host the game.  Stadium renovations.  So they moved it to Nashville, and managed to dig up a title sponsor, because, well, ESPN has to cover costs, man.  And I suspect attendance will be terrible.  The game...who knows?  Were it basketball...hey, something of an interesting mid-major matchup.  Western Kentucky vs. ODU.  In football?  CBS Sports' full ranking has em at #76 and #90...out of 133 teams.  

 

 

[Cancer]

Don James, legendary coach at Washington, explained why getting into a bowl game was so important to him.  It wasn't exposure, or money (he was a coach, not an AD or other administrator), or motivation.  What mattered to him was that getting into a bowl game permitted you to have an additional allotment of authorized practices.

[Pariah]

...something BYU could desperately have used this year. 

[unclevlad]

1 hour ago, Cancer said:

Don James, legendary coach at Washington, explained why getting into a bowl game was so important to him.  It wasn't exposure, or money (he was a coach, not an AD or other administrator), or motivation.  What mattered to him was that getting into a bowl game permitted you to have an additional allotment of authorized practices.

 

I've heard that several times, sure...but that was in the distant past.

 

Like, 6 years ago.  SO far back.

 

2 words:  Transfer portal.  

 

This was brought up during the studio breaks Saturday.  MANY teams have so much turnover now that the extra practice time doesn't mean nearly as much.  Early outs, transfers, new signees.  What matters more now is the spring practices.  The number of players that entered last year was 1300...and it's consistently reported to be substantially higher.  It's bad now, and if the NCAA's "only 1 free transfer" rule is struck down, as I suspect it will be, then it'll be full-on universal free agency.

[Pariah]

Simplistic solution: Hold the portal closed until the second week in January. 

[unclevlad]

1 hour ago, Pariah said:

Simplistic solution: Hold the portal closed until the second week in January. 

 

I believe the problem there is the academic calendars.  

 

Of interest...ODU and WKY are playing.  The broadcast crew brought up a disparity...WKY is letting their players in the portal, play, if they want to.  ODU is not.  The fact that ODU is blowing out WKY...as in 21-0 halfway through the first...may or may not be significant in that regard;  believe they said WKY's top 2 QBs have opted out.  

 

BTW:  wide shots like kickoffs show the attendance is VERY sparse.  Even the midfield, first row of bleachers.  

[Cancer]

1 minute ago, unclevlad said:

I believe the problem there is the academic calendars. 

 

That's clearly a fallacy, though they may be using it as an excuse to fool the rubes.  Football is just about completely divorced from academics now.

[Pariah]

The PAC-2's scheduling agreement with the Mountain West is only for football.

 

Oregon State, Washington State to join join Gonzaga-led WCC in basketball for next two seasons

 

The alliance with the West Coast Conference is for all sports except football and baseball. Travel costs should be greatly reduced, even compared to the previous PAC-12. It's an interesting step.

[unclevlad]

It's also a potential harbinger of what will happen in the next few years.  The top 40 or so schools create their football powerhouse group with their own rules, and where affiliation is ONLY in football.  Or hey, let's go with 2 tiers...the top 32 play for the 12-team CFP.  The next 50-60 play for the bowl games.  The last 30-40 play FCS.  And.....hey, promotion and relegation?????  HMMM!!!!  Wouldn't that be fun?  Maybe not practical, but definitely bound to create massive buzz.

 

Of course, this could *well* mean a conference reset based on geography rather than just the money grab, for Not-Football.

 

EDIT:  instead of 3 tiers, combine the non-CFP teams with the non-CFP bowls AND the FCS playoff system.  You can expand the FCS playoffs to 48.  Top 16 get byes;  then there's 16 games that can be tied to the existing, early bowl games.  Then 16 more for the second round.  The downside might be time, but I think it's workable.  

[Pariah]

I've read two or three times that Chip Kelly believes all schools should be independent in football. 

[unclevlad]

https://fullpresscoverage.com/2023/12/17/chip-kelly-all-college-football-should-be-independent/#:~:text=I think we should all,and we play each other.

 

Yeah, the problem is that the 4 team CFP is MUCH more strongly related to the conferences.  FSU gets nailed because the ACC is Not Very Good.  

 

I'm not sure his plan is really any better.  There just isn't time to get a diverse schedule, not with so many teams.  Next season it's gonna be MUCH!!!! worse, tho, because you can't have a full round robin.  The Big 10 already has this.  9 conference games?  That's 6 against division foes, 3 against the other division.  There will be times when that creates serious scheduling imbalance.  And expanding to 16?  it's gonna get considerably worse.  The SEC is in the same position.